Playing With Knives
by BlissWise
Summary: Tails, Knuckles, and Meera have been called to Salem, Mobius to find their friend's murderer and a young orphan. They meet the strange young orphaned girl named Patty. Is there more to her? Can Meera trust her instincts and save her friends from death?
1. Salem is Creepy

_Many years ago, the Salem Witch Trials took place in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. _

_People who were accused of being witches were burned and drowned. Some of these accusations spread _

_to neighboring communities. But the people on Mobius at the time had also started to believe in this, _

_especially in the copied town of Salem, Mobius. One day, a young girl was to be killed by the people's _

_way. As the girl began to die, a wail – maybe a screech of some sort – began to plot the old town's fate. _

_Now, as Meera, Knuckles, and Tails explore it, looking for clues, it stays barely standing, scarred from the _

_past. This, my readers, is where the story of the orphaned girl and her dreadful secret begins…_

(Disclaimer: I do not own Tails or Knuckles, and I only partially own Meera)

Knuckles looked around at the small town. Physically, It had been chipped away at for years, and it's brown, copper-orange tint on the buildings had only clarified its aged status. Many old scars in the framing and structure had suggested it probably wasn't a very stable town, and it could collapse into a mess of rubble and dust any minute. The echidna shivered as he thought over the reason he had been called here, along with Meera Prower, the most mysterious fox he knew, and her brother Tails, who had a very high IQ level for an eight-year-old child.

Meera looked at Knuckles. Sensing his fear, she said, "Look Knuckles, this place isn't exactly my place of choice either, but we have a job to do." She flicked her tail and smirked. Then, she added, "I thought it wouldn't ruffle you as much, considering your… um… 'fearless nature' that you're renowned for."

Tails chuckled a bit. "I thought so too, Knuckles," he said.

Knuckles shot a glance at Tails. He knew that he couldn't be fearless all of the time, but he still had a reputation for being intrepid, not pusillanimous. He could at least act like he was as brave as he could be. "Let's just find the kid and get out of here," he replied.

They had been called here to investigate a strange death. One of their friends, named Felix the Cat, had ventured here. He said he had gotten a call from his long lost sister, and he needed to come and find her immediately. The next day, Knuckles got a call from the coroner in a neighboring town saying Felix had died. He never said how, but it was still all the same. He was still dead. The coroner also said something about an orphaned girl in the Salem school house.

Meera started down the street. Tails followed her, his two tails intertwined in a tight bunch. Meera, looking back at him, chuckled. "Why are you doing that?"

Tails blushed in embarrassment and replied, "This town just gives me the creeps. Something tells me there's more here than meets our eyes."

The twin scratched her ear in a way that reminded Tails of Sonic. "Well, your eyes and mine, anyhow. Knuckles is too obtuse to see anything unusual."

"WOULD YOU QUIT!" Knuckles yelled. "I might not be as smart as you two, but still-"

A small, barely audible giggle interrupted him. Knuckles looked across the street and froze. "Uh… Meera?" he asked, his voice shaking. "You're the insane one, so tell me… is that a figment of my imagination?"

Meera looked too. She was very confused. She saw a small girl, about six, with long, spiky, brown hair. She wore a blue and white dress with a dark purple skirt. Her fur was gray and she had big, green eyes. She was a hybrid of some sort, but she didn't have a tail.

"Hi," the little girl giggled. "I'm Patty."

Mysterious, right?

Well, that's it for the first chapter. Sorry it was so short… Hope you liked it!


	2. Ghellsinger?

Here's chapter two you guys! (Disclaimer: I don't own Knuckles or Tails; I partially own Meera, but I own Patty)

Tails slowly walked forward. "What are you doing here?"

Patty, her hair waving a bit, replied, "I heard you talking about a little orphaned girl who was seen at Salem Elms."

"Salem Elms?" Knuckles echoed her. "You mean the school?"

The child giggled and smiled. "That's right. Would you like me to lead you to it?"

Meera looked at Patty's eyes. They gleamed with innocence.

Too _much_ innocence, Meera thought.

As Patty led the three Mobians down the road and through the misty-white fog, she spoke to them about the history of the town. "It was once the center of Mobian horror," she said. "People here were strongly bonded together as long as they were all alike. But, as we all know, there is always that person who is…" she stopped walking for a second, "…openly different." Patty continued walking. "They accused us-" She turned around, catching her mistake. "M-my great grandmother was killed because of it – of being…" She stopped again, "witches."

"DUN DUN DUUUUN!" Knuckles added a small sound effect.

Patty chuckled while the twin foxes looked at him, unimpressed.

Knuckles looked at them and shrugged. "Just adding suspense."

The school was in a somewhat better condition than the rest of Salem; it seemed almost ready to spring back to life. The paint was still chipping, and the hallways had piles of rubble sitting ever so still in the middle of them. Some of the lockers were rusty red, while the others were covered with cobwebs. The walls were cracked, but not so much that they were going to crumble.

"This," Patty said as she stopped in front of a room, "is where I'm staying at the moment."

It was a small classroom. It had a very depressing feel too it. All of the desks had been pushed away from one in the center. Something was scratched into the desk. It was barely readable from where they were standing, but Meera was able to make out the word:

WITCH

"We need to get you out of here," Knuckles said to Patty. "This town gives us all the creeps."

Tails chuckled. "Some people more than others," he said.

Patty shook her head. "I'm not leaving," she said, "until I find my mother's old teddy bear."

"Huh?" Meera finally spoke. "You're here to get a silly bear?"

Patty, her ears twitching, explained that the bear was very valuable. Her mother had hidden her old jewels and gold inside the bear.

"How did your mother get gold?" Knuckles asked, scratching his head.

"She found it lying on the ground around the cemetery," Patty explained.

Then something happened that made Meera's spine tingle. When Patty blinked after she spoke, the whites of her eyes turned red, and her irises were gray.

Knuckles didn't seem to notice as Patty changed her eyes again.

Meera folded her ear back and tried to talk to Tails using telepathy. _Something's not right about Patty._

_What do you mean, Meera?_

_Her eyes hide demonic thoughts. She's wearing a mask._

_Hate, despair, depression, death._

_…Tails stop sending me those thoughts._

_It's not me Meera, I heard it too._

Tails was right. It wasn't him. The thought kept coming to her.

_Hate, despair, depression, death._

It eventually made her head hurt.

_Hate, despair, depression, DEATH!_

Meera fell to her knees. The pain escalated into a sharp stab.

_DEATH!_

Another stab.

_DEATH!_

Another.

Then it stopped.

Meera stood back up again. Knuckles looked at her in confusion. "Are you going insane again?" he asked.

"I don't know," Meera replied. "I don't know…"

The fox girl looked closer at the desk. She saw a name imprinted in it. She couldn't make out the first name, but the last name stuck out clearly. _Ghellsinger._

Ghellsinger? Meera thought. Who's Ghellsinger?

Patty chuckled. "Have you ever been called a name, Meera?"

Meera spun around quickly. She noticed that Tails and Knuckles were not around. "How did you know-?"

The little hybrid chuckled again. Her eyes didn't seem as innocent as they did before. "It's always good to be called a name. You get to hear what other people think about you. Especially if they call you…" Patty's eyes turned red and gray again. In a strange, demonic voice, she said, "WITCH."

All of a sudden, the room turned to a gray stone. There was a great flash, and Patty had completely changed into someone else. Her fur was whiter than snow, and she held a menacing, blood covered scythe. Her outfit changed to a black tank top with a jewel as red as a chaos emerald in the middle. Under that was a red-and-black-striped, long sleeved shirt. Patty's expression changed to what _looked_ like an unimpressed face, but Meera could sense fear, sorrow, anger, hope, every emotion she was capable of feeling. Her brown hair stayed the same, but it dulled a little.

Meera backed up a few steps.

Patty stepped forward. "Try having people call you a witch and a demon every day," she said. "You can hear so many different things from that."

Then, out of no reason, Patty dropped to her knees and began to cry. Meera wondered whether she should try to run or stay and help.

The frightening young girl lifted her head to reveal a gruesome sight. Blood ran swiftly and plentifully down her face from her head. "I'm bleeding!" she wailed eerily. "I'm bleeding!"

Meera looked around and saw many other figure appear, bleeding the same as Patty did and screaming the same words: _I'm bleeding!_

The thoughts came back. _Hate, despair, depression, DEATH!_

The young fox girl could take it no longer. She closed her eyes and screamed a short scream of terror. When she opened her eyes, however, Patty, Tails, and Knuckles were standing in front of her. Everything was back to normal, even Patty.

What's wrong?" Patty asked. "Did something hurt you?"

Meera glared at Patty and backed up to the desk. She dusted off the desk and looked at the now readable first name. She couldn't believe what she saw.

_ Patty_

OOOH SCARY!

Well, there's a holiday horror for you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


	3. Death Sucks

Here's chapter 3! (disclaimer: Read the previous two chapters. I'm too lazy right now to write the disclaimer)

Meera, lying down on the floor, had no intention of sleeping. The day's previous events had left her alert of this suspicious child.

_There's gotta be more to her_, the fox girl thought. She was nowhere near a normal little girl, and if Tails and Knuckles thought otherwise, they weren't thinking hard enough.

No, Tails would never think harder. He thinks as hard as anyone, she thought.

"God," Meera stared at the ceiling. "I'm doubting my own brother now?"

She turned over and looked around at the other three sleepers. Knuckles was sprawled out, taking up as much space as he could, and snoring loudly. Tails had wrapped his tails around him like a blanket. The small fox took up less space than Knuckles, naturally.

Patty took up less space than even Meera, but she wasn't asleep. She was sitting up, running a rag across a long weapon. She looked unnaturally creepy; she wasn't smiling, but her eyes remained big and innocent.

"Who are you?" Meera said to Patty.

Patty looked up. A scream seemed to bat against Meera's eardrums. The little hybrid just chuckled. "I really don't care to tell you." She began polishing her weapon again. "But if you must know, Patty isn't my name anymore."

Meera stood up. "Then what is it?"

Sighing and standing up, Patty walked over to the sleeping Tails. Ignoring the question, she said, "All of these years, people have seen me walk again, and none of them have really remembered who I am. History has yet to vindicate me. Instead they vindicate my crimes. Never have they acknowledged me." She held her scythe against Tails's neck.

"No!" Meera shouted. "Don't hurt him!"

"Why not?" Patty asked. "Everyone else has hurt me…"

Meera looked at her. "What are you talking about?" She asked curiously.

It was at this point that the young hybrid was getting angrier and angrier. Patty walked up to Meera, scythe in hand. She swung once at Meera, smirking, but Meera dodged it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, PATTY?" Meera shouted.

"I told you before," the little hybrid drew back her scythe. "I'm NOT Patty anymore."

The hybrid swung the scythe, and Meera blacked out.

Lol Scary huh?

Well chapter 4 will be up in due time!


End file.
